The Mary Tyler Moore Show - Final Episode

[Amasov]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qP1DUdrJfM[/yt]

Came across this recently and thought I would share. It's the final curtain call from the last episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. I guess this only aired once and hasn't been shown in syndication since the series ended.

I started to get into this show recently, but haven't had the pleasure to see all of it. I like what I saw and found it to be VERY funny.

I thought some of you old timers would enjoy this.

 

[23skidoo]

I'm sure the episode itself is syndicated, but the curtain call apparently isn't included. I remember seeing this when it first aired. I was just 8 years old so I wasn't really interested in the show, but my folks watched it. It was the first time I remember ever seeing a show actually conclude; I knew shows ended and just went away, but this was the first time I ever saw actors break character and the fourth wall and acknowledge the audience in this way.

It's one of a few "milestone" TV memories of my childhood from around the same 2-year period. Others include the episode of Barney Miller which was actually a tribute to Jack Soo, who had died, and at the end of the episode the cast broke character and talked about him. And I remember the opening credits of the first episode of Chico and the Man that aired after Freddie Prinze had killed himself (the earliest I'd ever heard of a TV or movie star dying) had a voiceover from Jack Albertson paying tribute to him. I also remember seeing the original broadcast of Scared Straight which was the first time I'd ever heard the F-word (and I still remember how every 2 minutes they had a guy come on warning people about the language).

Alex

 

[Mistral]

I hadn't seen that in over 30 years, I think. Wow, still remember what I was doing, where I was sitting, etc.

 

[John Picard]

I've started queuing up classics on Netflix because I can better appreciate these shows now that I'm 40, they're connected to my past, and newer "comedy" is anything but.

Thanks for the post.

 

[TheSeeker]

Wow, I actually remember that curtain call and I was only 6 at the time!

 

[Amasov]

I'm 25 years old, but I have a very soft spot for the classic shows. In college, when I was bsy working on my design portfolio, I would usually have Nick at Nite or TVLand running and really loved seeing some of the older shows. Even years prior to that (around late 1998 or so), I would watch Nick at Nite when it would air Taxi, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and I Love Lucy. These shows (among others) are just the very definition of great television.

There were a handful of shows from some of the eras these shows were broadcast in (Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, Benson, etc) that could also be considered classics, but I never took to. When asked what it was about the classics I mentioned, why I liked them so much, I realized, it's not just about the writing, but the actors portraying the characters.

In the case of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, you had, for example, Ted Baxter. Ted was hysterical and stole every scene he was in. He could have the best-written material on the show, but if not played by Ted Knight, who knows if the character would have been as good? For me, in terms of classics, it's all about the actors. I love the characters in all of these shows and just couldn't imagine them being played by anybody else.

I hadn't seen that in over 30 years, I think. Wow, still remember what I was doing, where I was sitting, etc.

"Where were you when Pearl Harbor was bombed?"

"Where were you when JFK was assassinated?"

"Where were you when The Mary Tyler Moore Show ended?"

 

[Starbreaker]

I remember seeing the episode on Nick at Nite as a kid. I also remember when they used to describe the episode and give the episode number before each airing. Haven't thought about that in years...

 

[jadcox@mindspring.com]

I hadn't seen that in over 30 years, I think. Wow, still remember what I was doing, where I was sitting, etc.

Me, too. Wow. This Internet thing. Just amazing.

John